Her sketchpad and pencils lay where she’d left them when she’d been too sleepy to draw. Now she was too keyed up, even for a quick sketch. She flipped through the pages until she came to the one she’d done after making love to Matt for the first time.
She’d captured more than his physique in the sketch. His emotions were on display, too. And hers. She’d drawn him with a loving hand. When she flew back to L.A. with this sketch, would she be taking a piece of kryptonite with her?
By the time Matt tapped on her door, she’d worked herself into a state. She flung it open. “What are we doing?”
“Huh?”
Cold air blew in. “Sorry. Come in.” She stepped away from the door. “I just got to thinking.”
“That’s dangerous.” He eyed her as she closed the door. “Are you having second thoughts about me staying tonight?” He made no move to take off his hat or coat.
“Of course I want you to stay.” Dear Lord, he was handsome. And kind. And passionate. “I’ve been looking forward to it all day. But it finally hit me, the thing you tried to warn me about. It’s all fun and games until I leave on Saturday. Then it could end up being hell for both of us.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He met her gaze. “Should I go, then? Cut our losses?”
Her chest hurt. “Maybe.”
“You said we needed to blow off steam. We did that last night. Satisfied our curiosity.”
“Yes.”
“Mission accomplished.”
“I guess so.” Her stomach hollowed out.
“Then let’s call it.” He tugged the brim of his hat lower and stepped toward the door.
“Wait.”
He paused but didn’t turn back. “Lucy, I’m hanging by a thread, here. Make up your—”
“I don’t want you to go!”
“Thank God.” Turning, he tossed his hat on the table and wrenched open the buttons on his coat.
“We could be making a horrible mistake!”
“I don’t give a damn.” He threw his coat over the back of a chair and reached for her. “I’ve made mistakes before.” Pulling her close, he kissed her so thoroughly that she almost climaxed.
She couldn’t get his clothes off fast enough. He fumbled and swore as he worked on hers. She fell onto the quilt, naked except for her mismatched socks.
“I love seeing those socks on you.” Throwing his boots aside, he shoved down his jeans and briefs. “Got a gold condom for me?”
“Yes!” She pulled open the drawer so hard it came loose and clattered to the floor, spilling shiny packages everywhere.
He grinned. “That works.” Scooping up one of the gold ones, he ripped it open.
“What does it say?”
He glanced at the wrapper. “True love.” He dropped it on the floor and rolled on the condom. “I’m good with that.”
Reckless abandon had her in a firm grip. “Me, too.”
He joined her on the bed and wasted no time moving between her thighs. Sliding his hands under her bottom, he lifted her into position. “Wrap your legs around my hips, Luce. I want to feel those socks.”
“You’ve got it, cowboy.”
He smiled. “Promise me something.”
“Anything.”
“That I’ll be the only cowboy you’ll invite into your bed.”
“That’s easy. You’re the only one I’ve ever…” She gulped for air and prayed for a word that wouldn’t weigh them down. “The only one I’ve ever wanted.”
“Good.” He sank his cock deep into her aching channel. “Let’s keep it that way.” He sucked in a breath. “Don’t move.”
Tiny explosions of pleasure greeted his solid presence. “But I want to.”
“Just give me a moment.” His jaw tightened. “You feel… too good.”
“So do you. Let’s go crazy.”
“But then it’ll be over.”
“For now. But we have all night. And condoms all over the floor.”
“Point taken.” And he began to thrust.
Glorious. A celebration was beginning in her core, and when he ramped up the action, it was Times Square on New Year’s Eve.
Surrendering to a primitive passion that consumed misgivings in a white-hot flame, she urged him on. He responded with a wild energy that brought her quickly to the brink. Calling his name, she tumbled over the edge.
He followed her with a hoarse cry of triumph. Braced on his forearms, he gasped for air as aftershocks rolled through his body. His gaze met hers. “That was…” He gulped. “Incredible.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I’m still shaking.”
“Then come down here.” She tried to coax him into the shelter of her arms. “Relax.”
“Not yet.” He carefully left the bed and made a quick trip to the bathroom. Then he returned and gathered her close, nestling her head against his chest. “Thank you for not ending this.”
“Turns out I couldn’t bear to.”
He stroked her hair. “I could tell you were panicked, though.”
She snuggled against him. “It was the first time I’d faced the fact I’m leaving.”
“I know. It won’t be fun. But… I’m willing to make that trade. This for that.”
“You’re a brave guy.”
“I’m a realistic one. I never bought that letting off steam concept.”
She shifted her position so she could see his expression. “No?”
“No.” He smiled. “I don’t think you did, either.”
“It sounded good.”
“Rationalizations usually do.”
“I shouldn’t have—”
“Hey, no regrets. I’m not sorry. I’ll never be sorry. I’ve had the privilege of making love to you. Unless you tell me no, I’ll keep doing it until I can’t anymore.”
“Because we’ll be exhausted?”
“Because you’ll be in L.A.”
She took a shaky breath. “Okay, then. Ready to make the most of the time we have left?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Matt gave Lucy credit. Once she’d accepted the parameters, she was all in. No more discussion or doubts.
If he had moments when he looked at her and his heart stuttered, he didn’t let on. He assumed she did the same. Each night they burned up the sheets. By day they managed to find time to take a trail ride or grab lunch at either Gertie’s or the Moose.
Lucy continued to help in the barn and often stayed afterward to sketch the horses. Sometimes he’d glimpse her sitting on a camp stool outside, sketchpad balanced on her knees as she drew something of interest to her. She’d acquired a pair of fingerless gloves.
But she didn’t ask him to pose again. He understood. It was the same reason he stopped himself from taking pictures of her.
He’d fallen into a routine of heading over to her cabin after dinner, but Thursday night that changed. The Babes were running the barrels in Edna’s indoor arena and they’d invited Lucy to watch, along with the Brotherhood, Millie and Kate.
Leo helped Henri load her gelding buckskin Prince into the trailer and then rode with her as she led the caravan to Edna’s place. Matt and Jake hauled everyone else. Lucy, CJ and Nick went with Matt and Jake took Millie, Kate and Rafe.
“Hey, Lucy,” Nick said from his seat right behind her. “Wait’ll you see this place. It’s ginormous.”
She turned around to look at him. “You mean the arena?”
“The whole spread. Edna has fifteen-thousand acres. Naturally she isn’t using all of it. I can’t imagine how much she’s won over the years to be able to afford that much land.”
“Has to be a ton of prize money,” CJ said. “She has an entire room dedicated to her trophies.”
“Barrel racers earn a lot?” Lucy sounded surprised.
“Not all of them,” Nick said. “She’s a superstar. I forgot to ask. Are we invited to the house afterward for eats?”
Matt laughed. “Wish I had a dollar for every
time you bring up food.”
“Hey, yeah,” CJ said. “Me, too. We’d have enough to buy a ranch like Edna’s.”
“I enjoy good food, is all. And Edna always has those fancy cheese puff things and a bunch of tasty stuff on toothpicks. Lucy, cross your fingers she invites us to the house.”
“Fingers crossed.” She held up both hands and flashed Matt a grin.
“I mean it. There’ll be little eclairs, and slices of a flourless chocolate cake that melts in your mouth. Once she had these mini-cupcakes. I ate about ten of those.”
“More like fifteen,” Matt said. “We had to stage an intervention.”
“They were great cupcakes! Anyway, we have you to thank for this, Lucy.” Nick reached up and squeezed her shoulder. “Henri said you asked about it on Saturday night.”
“I sure did. I’ve never had a live demonstration.”
Matt glanced at her. “You’ll see the cream of the crop when Edna goes out there. Much as I admire the rest of the Babes’ riding skills, Edna’s in a class all by herself.”
“Can’t wait.” A leather satchel lay on her lap with her sketchpad and pencils tucked inside.
Yesterday they’d stopped at Logan’s to pick up the belt she’d ordered and he’d asked what she thought of the leather satchel for carrying her art supplies. After her enthusiastic response, he’d bought it, overruling her objection that it was too pricey. She’d carried it constantly since then. Warmed his heart.
“The turnoff’s up ahead, Lucy,” CJ said. “See those two rock pillars with lanterns on top?”
“I do. Looks like her road’s paved.”
“And plowed,” Matt said.
“She sounds like a big deal. How come I haven’t seen her profiled in the Gazette?”
“She’s asked them not to. She’s tired of reading stories that emphasize how remarkable she is for her age.”
“Yeah,” CJ said. “Don’t ever tell her she’s remarkable for her age. She’ll open a can of whoop-ass and dump it all over you. Wait a sec. Did you just say you read the Gazette?”
“Yep. I missed Apple Grove and subscribing to the paper keeps me informed.”
“I suppose it would. Good idea.” CJ then proceeded to bump Matt’s seat with his knee. “Whoops. Sorry, Matt. Long legs.”
“No worries.” So what if Lucy missed Apple Grove? That didn’t mean she was ready to give up everything to move here. But CJ would be looking for every angle. He was a sentimental guy.
Matt followed Henri’s truck past the sprawling two-story main house, a combination of log construction and stone accents. The large building housing the arena was down a hill to the right, along with a couple of barns, some outbuildings and a slew of corrals.
“My goodness.” Lucy looked from side to side, taking it all in. “How many horses does she have?”
“About ten,” Matt said. “She used to have more, but she’s downsized. She only needs one wrangler, now.”
“But even with ten, who rides them all?”
“She rents them out to film crews. Her horses have been in a bunch of movies. She was an extra a couple of times.”
“That’s fascinating.”
“She’s quite a character.” Matt pulled up beside Henri and Jake parked next to him. They’d arrived early on purpose so they could help unload horses.
Since Nick sat behind Lucy, he beat Matt to Lucy’s door. “I’ve got her, buddy.”
“Thanks, bro.”
Edna came out of the arena wearing well-worn chaps over her jeans, a battered Stetson and a faded denim jacket. “Welcome, folks. Teague’s in there setting up the barrels. Lucy, you come with me. Since you’ve never been here, I’ll show you around while they unload.” She put an arm around Lucy’s shoulders. “I’m glad to see you brought your sketchpad.”
CJ edged closer to Matt and lowered his voice. “I’m telling you, she loves it here. You have more going for you than you think.”
He let out a breath. “She loves it the way anybody loves their favorite vacation spot. It’s a getaway, a change of pace. Living in a place is a different experience.”
“Not necessarily.”
“CJ, I know you want a different ending, but it’s not in the cards.”
“You’re giving up too quick.”
“I’m being realistic.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Josette’s coming in. I’ll handle Pierre.”
“Peggy’s right behind her,” CJ said. “I’ll help her with Dust Devil.”
“Okay.” Matt looked for Nick and found him talking to Jake and Rafe. “We’ve got these two,” he called out as he waited for Josette to put on the brakes and turn off the engine. “Pam and Anastasia are yours.” Then he helped Josette out of the truck.
“Merci.” She gave him a smile. “You’re good for business, mon ami. I have appointments booked for Rafe and Nick for next week.”
“No kidding? They didn’t tell me. But CJ said he’ll come in as soon as his hair grows out.”
“Fantastic.” She started toward the back of the trailer. “You’re a walking advertisement, cherie.”
He laughed. “Guess so.” He unlatched the trailer doors and lowered the ramp. “Hey, Pierre, it’s show time, buddy.”
* * *
Once the Babes were mounted and into their warm-up routines in the arena, Matt and his brothers took seats on a three-tiered set of green bleachers at the entrance to the arena. A low fence stood between the bleachers and the course.
Lucy and Millie had claimed a position on the top row. They were deep in conversation when Matt took a spot next to Lucy.
“Ron’s off on another speaking tour, so Peggy’s on her own for ten days,” Millie said. “And Lee’s rotation at the fire station happened to fall over Valentine’s weekend, so he wasn’t at the Moose Saturday and Pam told me he’s back on duty tonight.”
“Okay, now it makes sense why I haven’t seen either of them.” Lucy turned to Matt. “Hey, you.” Her sketchpad lay open on her lap, but instead of an image of buckskins, she’d drawn a map of the course with dotted lines showing the potential paths around the three barrels.
He gestured to it. “Looks like Edna explained the rules of the game.”
“You mean Ed. She’s determined to get everyone to call her that.”
“That’s gonna be tough.” Jake took a seat next to Millie. “She’s been Edna for a lot of years.”
“Well, Henri’s making the effort,” Lucy said, “so I will, too.”
Matt nodded. “I’m sure she’ll appreciate it.” Even if Lucy would only be around a couple more days. In fact, the exact number of hours before he’d take her to the airport was… no, damn it. He wasn’t doing this. No countdown. She was here now. Nothing else mattered.
“I sketched out the pattern to get it into my head. It’s elegant, isn’t it? A series of figure eights around the three barrels in a triangle. It appeals to my love of symmetry.”
“I never thought about that.” And now her comment would become a permanent fixture whenever he watched barrel racing. Oh, well. She was associated with so many elements of his life, one more didn’t matter. But once she left… and there he was again, anticipating Saturday and the fallout. He had to stop that.
He pulled out his phone. “They’re getting ready to start. Want to time them?”
“Sure! What’s considered good?”
Millie chimed in. “Anything under thirty seconds is good.”
“And anything under fifteen is Edna. I mean Ed.” Matt put his phone into stopwatch mode. “Pam will start. She hates waiting and would rather be the time to beat.”
“I love the creamy color of her horse. I get why she calls him Latte.”
“And Peggy’s is on the other end of the color spectrum,” Millie said. “Caramel is the perfect name for him, too.”
Lucy sighed. “They’re all so beautiful. Now I want a buckskin.”
CJ had taken a seat in front of them next to Kate. He turned toward Lucy. “I happen to k
now where you can get one. You might even score a discount because you’re almost family.”
“Yeah, right. I’ll keep him or her in my apartment. Shouldn’t be a problem at all.”
“Maybe Matt could keep your horse for you.” CJ grinned and turned back toward the arena.
Matt gave him a swift kick in the butt. “Oops. Sorry. My foot slipped.”
“Matt, get ready.” Lucy clutched his arm. “Pam’s at the starting line.”
He glanced up, his finger on the button. When Pam took off, he tapped the screen.
Lucy’s grip tightened. “Look at her go! She and Latte are almost horizontal to the ground.”
“That’s how you make time.”
“Second barrel.” Lucy’s breath quickened. “Third barrel. And racing for home!” She jumped to her feet. “Go, Pam!”
When Pam crossed the line, Matt tapped his phone again. “Twenty-four seconds. Not bad at all.”
“What’s my time?” Pam called out.
Several people called out twenty-four. Pam jumped off Latte and did a victory dance. “Beat that, suckers!”
Lucy grinned. “Do you think she’ll have the best time?”
“Not with Ed around, but the rest only compete with each other. Nobody’s ever beat Ed.”
“What a rush it would be to ride that course. Have you ever tried it?”
“No, ma’am.”
“I want to.”
“I can see that.”
“Can’t figure out how I could, though.” Her attention shifted to the arena. “Red’s on the line.”
“Anastasia.”
“Who’s calling herself Red, now. She’s changed her name, too.”
“Good grief.” He reset the stopwatch app.
Lucy was equally enthusiastic about Red’s performance, which was slower than Pam’s. While Pam did another victory dance on the sidelines, Peggy approached the line. And blew them both away.
“No hard feelings!” Pam raced over to Peggy and gave her a big hug after she dismounted.
Henri came somewhere in between the others, and Josette managed to edge out Peggy’s time on Pierre. All the Babes except Ed dropped to their knees in front of Josette and bowed as they chanted we are not worthy.
Sweet-Talking Cowboy (The Buckskin Brotherhood Book 1) Page 15